UN: Yemen's warring sides agree to extend truce for two more months

Cairo (dpa) - Parties to Yemen''s conflict have agreed to renew a nationwide truce, which was due to expire on Thursday, for two additional months, UN spec...

Cairo (dpa) - Parties to Yemen''s conflict have agreed to renew a nationwide truce, which was due to expire on Thursday, for two additional months, UN special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said. On April 2, a two-month UN-brokered truce took effect in war-ravaged Yemen, after it was agreed to, both by the Yemeni government and a Saudi-led coalition supporting it, and their rival, the Houthi rebels. The agreement included a halt to all military operations inside and outside of Yemen, allowing the entry of fuel ships into the vital Hodeidah port, and permitting two commercial flights per week to operate in and out of Sana''a Airport controlled by the rebels to Jordan and Egypt. Grundberg said Thursday that the truce is extended under the same terms of the original agreement. "For the past two months, Yemenis have experienced the tangible benefits of the truce. Civilian casualties have dropped significantly, fuel deliveries through Hudaydah port have increased considerably, and commercial flights resumed to and from Sana''a International Airport after almost six years of closure," the envoy added in a statement. "The truce represents a significant shift in the trajectory of the war and has been achieved through responsible and courageous decision making by the parties," Grundberg said. Last month, representatives of the Yemeni government and the rebels held direct talks in Jordan for the first time in years under UN auspices to discuss opening roads in the country. Yemen has been locked in a devastating conflict between the Saudi-backed government and the Iranian-aligned rebels since late 2014.